First off the claim that the adventures are linked in one giant plot thread is false. Their is no real linkage and that is a good thing allowing the DM to use whichever adventures they want. Like any product consisting of multiple authors some of the adventures are good, some are mediocre and some are very very bad. Each adventure is fairly short and can be run in 2 short sessions or one long session. The only problem that is omnipresent through all adventures is that almost every adventure features a different unique monster and with one exception (brain vine) the new monsters are terrible and unnecessary and should be replaced by a similar monster of equivalent CR from whatever monster manual type books you own.

The main reason I have rated this product so highly is that it is $3.95 for 24 adventures/260 pages. If the price was higher my rating would be a lot lower, but at the current price the product is a pretty great deal.

I'd like to give this product a better review but when I pay $40 for a PDF dealing with something called the World's Largest Dungeon and there are absolutely ZERO bookmarks all I can say is WTF? And the maps? They don't line up leaving huge gaps when you print them out.

If the technical issues are addressed with the PDFs and Maps I'll review based on actual content. But for me the technical issues are deal breakers.

The adventure is good and it would be worth a 4 Star rating. However, the presentation is IMPOSSIBLE. It is a staples removed scanned in product the size of a piece of paper folded in half from top to bottom. That would be fine except they did not arrange the pages into a readable fashion. So page 1 is on the right side while page 16 is on the same sheet. Page 2, switching sides from page 1, is on the left and page 15 is on the right. So to read this, you have to start at the front, read half pages to the end and then go BACKWARDS to read the second half of the adventure. Utter madness.

The adventure is pretty decent and is the only thing that saved this adventure from a 1 star rating. It really isn't even worth the 80 cents it is currently priced at. My apologizes to the authors who put time into this.

Overall, I'd have to say this is a pretty well made game. The system isn't the greatest I've seen and definitely not the most "statistically accurate" if you can call a system that. Basically, it's a pretty simple system resulting in a simple game. The reason this game stands a head above a lot of other games is simply because of the setting. This game is worth the money just for the first about 50 - 100 pages where it describes the setting, characters, and how everything happened. Also the last few pages deal with what is not revealed in the beginning, the secrets and is only for the GM to read. What makes this game great since the system is so simple, you could actual integrate your favorite system into this pretty flawlessly. All you'd have to do really is change a few feats around and the stats and your good to go. All in all, this game is worth the money just because the setting alone. It's a simple system which is fun, but also allows for an easy integration of another system with one of the best settings I've ever read.

With potentially world-shaking import, here's a real cracker of a stand-alone adventure to drop into your campaign just when your characters think that all they have to worry is about whose turn it is to cook over the campfire...

So, there the party is, sitting around said campfire when a robed figure clutching a sythe turns up! But he hasn't come for anyone's soul, it's a bit more of a challenge than that. As he crumbles away before their very eyes, he asks them to take on a quest to save the very fabric of the universe itself. Assuming they don't dismiss this apparation as something brought about by those dodgy mushrooms the elf insisted on adding to the stew, they have an incredible adventure ahead of them, with all to play for and the very universe at stake.

Perhaps inevitable when gods start interfering in the characters' affairs, but there is a fair element of railroading once they embark on this adventure. A single path to follow, arbitrary effects that WILL happen and which there's nothing that they can do anything about... things that will annoy some players, but - for those prepared to enter into the spirit of the thing - events that bring home the fact that this time they are messing with things that are truly beyond mortal comprehension, even for relatively high-level fellows like themselves. As you'd expect, the combat encounters are physically challenging, but the main thrust of events involves a lot of puzzles to solve - something else that some players find annoying but others relish. Solving them should prove entertaining, and they can all be solved, even if you may find the need to drop the odd hint here and there.

It is, and intended to be, a strange adventure, not the regular sort of affair that goes to make up a normal campaign. It has the potential, if well handled and entered into in the right spirit, to be something that those who venture through it will talk about - in character and out - for years to come. Some players, as mentioned before, will find it a frustrating or even dull experience. That's the trouble of messing with the affairs of deities. They don't think like you or I do, and this adventure gets this across well.

It will work best - although it is truly a stand-alone event - if inserted into your regular campaign, and played through with your usual characters, than run as a one-off. For there are times when players will see their cherished characters at dire risk, maybe even having to contemplate making the ultimate sacrifice - and by that I mean, choosing to do so, not just risking all in a brawl. Moments that can become the highlights of your shared storytelling.

If everything goes wrong, and they fail to complete the quest, say it's a shared dream and blame it on those mushrooms! Yet if they complete their mission, they all will have something quite unusual to look back on as they break camp and continue on their merry way.

[A note on the rating: This adventure is one that will be either loved or hated - I've given it 5 stars, as it could be THAT good with a group for which it works. Just remember: it may not be to your taste!]

A neat little adventure to slot in when you haven't had much prep time or there's a lull in the ongoing campaign, this is designed to entertain your players for an evening's play. All you need to do is have the characters in a city near a desert then sucker them into going for an ale one evening and then...

The premise is simple. Out in that handy desert there is an ancient tomb with rich pickings to be had by any willing to brave a little danger. As encouragement, the informant has a classic sob story to tell about his lifelong friend who lies at death's door and can only be saved by an artefact he believes is hidden in this tomb - everything else the characters may take for themselves. Who could resist?

Assuming the characters take the bait, er, I mean, decide to aid this worthy cause, they'll need to travel across the desert to the tomb. That bit is left to you, gloss over it or throw sand, sun and suffering at them as you please. There are plenty of resources to help you deal with desert travel if required. The tomb is, however, detailed comprehensively, as befits the focus of the adventure. It depends on how much time you have and the way in which you wish to present things - and how it all fits in with anything else that might be going on in your campaign.

The tomb itself, whilst somewhat reminiscent of something found in Ancient Egypt, is well-constructed from a fantasy point of view which an array of obstacles to keep tomb-raiders at bay. There's plenty to keep the characters occupied, without being too frustrating... at least, provided they are willing to put in some hard work to excavate the tomb properly.

Most monsters herein are relatively familiar, but there is a useful new one well suited to any formal tomb of a devotee of a cult that believes you and your possessions can pass on to an afterlife, the artefact itself (which has plenty more plot potential even after you've retrieved it), not to mention the occupant of the tomb who, shall we say, may well object to anyone having the temerity to disturb his eternal rest.

It's a neat package to use as a one-off game or a side-adventure dropped into a campaign at a suitable moment. With a bit of care and advance prepartion - such as finding reference to the artefact or encountering a situation in which it could be of use independently of a fellow in an inn enlisting the characters' aid, the adventure could be woven into your overarching plot.

My players enjoyed this module, which was played the session immediately following the Honor Among Thieves Module. The party was made up of four level 6 players and one level 5 player; a mercenary group with good & neutral tendencies. They were trying to infiltrate the thieves guild and one of the fighters had dreams about it. They were also highly sympathetic to Sebastian, since they just helped him out.

Cons: It says that it is a sequel of Honor Among Thieves, or can be played as a standalone. However, it does not reference any NPCs from Honor Among Thieves (I worked Swift, the Minutemen, and Sebastian back in, however I did not use Desburg for the city in the 1st module and didn't use Desburg in this one). Again, the Module is laid out like a "pamphlet," which is a nuisance to assemble. I also switched the cleric's and the noble's house, it seemed like the cleric would have a more modest house than the noble.

Pros: I liked the fact that the DM can choose the last task (worked really well in my case), but perhaps 12 hours is too long for the PCs to get all the tasks done; using the Diplomat and some bluff/diplomacy skills (and one magic pipe performance, which made people dazed at the statue), they were able to get all or most of the tasks done within 4 1/2 hours.

I really enjoyed the how the players got around some of the tasks, for instance, since they were supposed to leave a bloody dagger in the noble's house (ie Sebastian), they weren't told how to do it or where to get the bloody dagger, so they drew one and left an apology note.

I ran this over 2 sessions for my current Black Company game. The only differences I made that it was set in Beryl, the group got arms and armor instead of the Desburg magic item and I switched the shapeshifter's type from Terror fiend to Forvalka (wereleopard). In the tunnel section I switched out the water based monsters to alligators, although my party managed to avoid all of the alligators.

spoiler (some):

My group went the fastest route to Sebastian's house, and made a stop at the TTESSFFTT__ trap; it stumped them for a good 10 minutes or so, but I gave them several hints (ie "There are 10 spaces, 9 are filled and the last space is blank"). My suggestion to other DMs is to let the group roleplay it out, instead of using a Decipher Script roll. One of my players loved this trap so much, she is going to use the trap and part of the module in her home game.

I did up the HP of the terror fiend/forvalka some. My group was 5th level while playing this module, and are heavy hitters, so they would destroy a 50 hp creature within 2 player's turns. (However, I used the Terror Fiend's AC instead of the Forvalka's AC, and it took them a while to be able to hit it, before they dazed it and brought the AC down).

My top complaint is the layout of the module, where you had to assemble into a packet before you were able to read it completely through. The map was also very hard to read in the shades of grey (to see where the ledges where in relation to the rest of the tunnel was hard for the party), so I'd suggest at least making the map in color. If the DM's map is not possible to make in color (I copied the map included in the module and gave it as a hand out to the party), maybe make a Player's Map that is in color, as the party kept saying "oh, we're going towards room 10 or avoiding room 8" etc comments.

Quick, what superhero setting features JFK, nascent superheroes just discovering their powers, and the mutant struggle for equality juxtaposed over American civil rights? No, not X-Men: First Class…Brave New World! No, not the novel by Aldous Huxley…the role-playing game by Matt Forbeck!

Brave New World features a superhero-infested America gone mad. When an evil mutant organization fails to assassinate John F. Kennedy, he transforms the United States into a fascist dictatorship under military rule where every mutant must be registered. If this sounds familiar, it's because the X-Men comics featured mutant oppression in 1984 when Senator Kelly passed the Mutant Registration Act. Brave New World takes this conflict between the superpowered and the government to its logical conclusion – the act grows in scope until it comes to define world policy: mutants change the outcome of wars, destroy entire cities, and usher in a new age with Kennedy extending his term as president indefinitely. It takes over 20 pages to outline this background, which is summarized just as effectively on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World_%28role-playing_game%29#Alternate_history

Brave New World is the last gasp of old school design, complete with "how to role-play," random full color plates, and long dramatic fiction introducing the setting. Throughout, what would normally be color glossy pictures are converted here in black-and-white for economic printing purposes. Sans color, much of the artwork is considerably less impressive.

In Brave New World superheroes are "Deltas" either for or against this new world order, a tool of the Man or a desperate fugitive using their powers for justice. Complicating matters is the disappearance of the ultra-powerful superheroes known as Alphas. In this world, nobody is multi-classed or high-level.

And that's the problem. Brave New World is obsessed with creating a superhero genre that's sharply defined by its world, which by its very nature means the heroes can't be so powerful that they can trounce government agents. Players can choose only from 10 archetypes: bargainer, blaster, bouncer, flyer, gadgeteer, goliath, gunner, healer, scrapper, and speedster. They can be slightly customized, but their powers, skills, and attributes are predefined. This is a role-playing game where "role" is something of a straitjacket.

The narrow focus applies to the game master too. Forbeck is uninterested in providing much of a toolkit for game mastering the campaign. Throughout the book, any information that would further the campaign (Where are the alphas? How does one become an alpha? What's up with JFK?) are deferred to other supplements. In essence, if you want to know more you have to pay up for future supplements…and since Brave New World came out in 1999 we now know that some of the books were never published. In short, even if you were to buy into what amounts to over a hundred dollars in books, you still wouldn't have the complete setting.

Brave New World does one thing very well: low-level class-based underdog superheroes battling against the government and each other. In that regard it has much in common with the Basic Dungeons & Dragons set. The superhero role-playing game in particular has been changed forever by Champions; players expect to be able to create whatever character they want. That's more a comment on the evolution of game design than Brave New World. It might surprise modern players expecting a more flexible system, but for gamers who want to recapture the feel of X-Men: First Class, Brave New World might be just what they're looking for.

The World's Largest City does deliver on the promise of its title. The problem here is the quality of the PDF scan.

What you see in the Full-Size Preview section of the listing? That's the quality of the scan throughout. Useable, but not crisp or as clear as it ought to be.

The scan was not made from the original book layout; in fact this PDF looks like a hand-scan. Some of the pages are slightly askew, the contrast and crispness of the scan could be so much better than it is, and the book's cover image isn't even included as part of the scan.

Again, it's all usable (see the preview) but it's disappointing -- even slightly insulting -- that a $40 PDF couldn't be created with better quality, or more care for the customer.

Still, publisher AEG appears to have essentially abandoned D&D gaming as of this writing, and the book is generally out-of-print as far as I can tell. Unless one wants to pay $80 to buy a physical copy of The World's Largest City from AEG's website store, this is your best bet for owning a copy.

Short version: the book delivers on its promise, but the scan quality as of this writing is mediocre. Functional, but far from professional.

I purchased the hardcover print edition of this book. In regards to the printing, the pages seemed a little thin for my liking, but the cover was very nice and the book was very well bound. I have no complaints there.

As far as the game goes, the setting is phenomenal! It stimulates my imagination as I read through the book and myriads of stories and scenes pop into my head, just waiting to be seen in a game! If only for the setting, alone, this book is way worth getting.

The system leaves much to be desired. It appears to be a version of Savage Worlds, but without the good things I love about SW. The character generation options are confusing and the rules are a bit more complex that I feel they need to be. The char gen options are also rather limited. I'm sure there are people who will love the system, but I'm not one of them.

All in all, this book is worth it! If you want to play in a world of dark heroes, where the criminals are the good-guys and the superheroes are on the run, this is the game for you!

Brave New World is a simple, elegant system. The d6 dice pool mechanic works well and drives the combat forward quickly so players can get back to the really juicy stuff...the narrative.
Brave New World's setting is an ever expanding collection of mysteries and moral ambiguities that are just plain fun to read, let alone play. Matt Forbeck's style is more like an entertaining history read rather than plowing through a straight rulebook. Makes getting through the rules that much easier as you really want to get to the revealed mysteries in the back of each book. Great stuff.